Shadow
by Psymei
Summary: Anduin is bored and practising shadow magic in his room at the keep. Varian is unusually angry / frightened about it. [Vaugly OOC due to being bad at writing in character, AU due to some small differences going from a game spells to story spells which are explained inside and AU for ideas about shadow magic in general Human society.]


[Disclaimer: WoW belongs to Blizzard, not to me, but they seem to love fan-fiction so I am sure they are cool with me borrowing two characters for a little bit.]

[Author notes: This is a bit of an odd story, and the first one I have ever put online so please don't be too harsh, even if you really hate it. The characters are probably a bit OOC, Varian especially as he is slightly more unstable than in the game / in the books (even Wolfheart) and the spells are NOT exactly as they are in game. He is reacting to his hatred and fear of shadow magic, and as everyone who had read about Varian knows how he deals with stuff like that. Also, Shadow Orbs are a little more manipulatable in this story and they may be described slightly differently than they look in game. Oh, and Anduin is sixteen because I didn't want him to be younger than that. The story is in no particular time line, just sometime after Cataclysm, but before Mists.]

Anduin was in a terrible mood. The sixteen-year old was sitting on his bed inside his room at Stormwind Keep. For once he was wishing that his bed was bigger than that of a child's bed, so that he could stretch out on it. After being confined to the keep for the last month or so, the young prince was stir crazy and the small bed was not helping matters one bit. His father had insisted that he stay here until he was better and Anduin did not want to invoke his wrath by disobeying the worried father.

What irritated Anduin most about his confinement was that he was unable to practice his healing abilities as he would have liked, and that while he loved basking in the light, there was only so much contemplation one could do before it drove them mad.

Although he mused, he could practice one of the only skills that did not require another person to hurt or to heal and that would not cause any damage to the surrounding area. This strict criteria narrowed down his skill set to practicing "Shadow Orbs"; a spell which caused small orbs of shadowy energy to do as the commander wished them and could be channelled to create other spells. The problem was that Shadow Orbs, as evident by the name, were shadow magic.

While shadow magic was a neutral magic and cared not of why or who was using it, many people still believed that only the practitioners of evil used the tree. This was partially due to its name, and partially to do with the fact that any priest not aligned to the side of the light was forced to use it, due to not having access to the light magic's.

The shadow was still perfectly legal, and those that knew better did not frown upon its use as it was a powerful tool which could be used for both good or evil. However Anduin (being the Prince of Stormwind and all) had to be careful in using it as the uninformed would condemn him. This unfortunately included his father as Varian was against anything even remotely like dark after his experiences with the Old God's power.

Anduin quickly made sure that there were no guards outside his door or his window, closing the curtains after he had done so. The room was now lit with a lone brazier that cast long dancing shadows across the room. He made his way to the centre of the room and knelt down, placing his hands in front of him, palms up and parallel to one another. Anduin closed his eyes and remembered all that he had read about the orbs, and how to summon them.

After an indeterminable time of intense concentration (Anduin had no idea how much time had passed, it could have been seconds, it could have been hours), a surprisingly pleasant cold tingling sensation shot up his spine, across his shoulders and down his arms. He felt the dizzying sensation of a part of his magical power breaking off from his body to dance around the edges of his aura. It took a few seconds to adjust as his awareness expanded to feel the state of the two magical spheres. As his awareness of them solidified so did his control, and as it clicked into place the prince snapped his eyes open.

Anduin smiled softly in a tiny celebration of his success at the sight that met his eyes. The two soft purple coloured spheres floated in front of him, awaiting his commands. The prince focused his willpower on one of them and directed it to move to the left, and it did so as if it were an extension of his own arm.

For the next several hours the prince got the hang of moving them wherever he wanted them to go, increasing their size, getting them to split into four much smaller balls and getting them to form into the spells that could be cast using them as a resource. The prince was incredibly careful about not casting the aforementioned spells as even a weak psychic horror would probably cause a commotion with all the tiny insects in the rooms around him, and would most certainly cause a commotion if he lost control as a guard was walking rounds past his door.

Anduin was just playing with getting them to move in synchronization when the door banged open (the person obviously forgetting their own strength) and Varian Wrynn stood in the doorway. Anduin jumped in fright, his head snapping to the door and he muffled a scream of shock. Varian cast a slightly guilty look at his son and sheepishly apologised. Then, upon seeing the spheres gave a double take.

"Who taught you that?" Varian demanded harshly rushing forward and hauling Anduin to his feet, Anduin's concentration vanishing as he did so, causing the spheres to disappear. Varian grabbed his shoulders and shook him slightly "What the light do you think you are playing at?"

Anduin gave an irritated huff saying "Dad! Shadow magic is not evil!" attempting to get out of Varian's vice like grasp. "Look, I..."

Varian grip tightened bruising the skin on Anduin's shoulders and he moved forward to look into the young prince's eyes. "Who taught you?" He spat. "Tell me this instant!".

Anduin's eyes widened in fear and he gulped visibly. He looked at his feet and Varian hooked a finger under his chin, forcing the boy to look at him. Anduin's eyes darted to the door, knowing that telling Varian who taught him was going to make it much worse. "Archbishop Benedictus..." He whispered.

Varian roared in anger, shoving Anduin away from him. Anduin's back hit the wall and he stumbled slightly, looking at Varian in terror. His father did not notice as he stormed to and thro the tiny room, muttering furiously about corruption, Deathwing, Anduin. Condemning both Anduin and the Archbishop. The prince couldn't tell whether Varian was talking to him or to himself. Suddenly Varian swung round again, grabbing Anduin by the shoulders and yelling furiously "I NEVER want to see you using - THAT - ever again".

Eyes widening the prince nodded quickly, his heartbeat slamming against his ribcage as he fought the urge to flee. Varian who was in full Lo'gosh mode by now did not take that as a proper answer and slammed the young priest back into the wall. "Promise, NOW!".

Stuttering Anduin promised and Varian seemed to return to himself somewhat. After a few seconds, his eyes changed back into the slightly softer eyes of the father Anduin was used to. He quickly stepped away from the trembling prince.

"Anduin!" he gasped, "Did I hurt you?". Varian looked horrified at his own actions.

Anduin's fear and anger did not melt away completely, but seeing that his father was no longer yelling or pacing, he quickly stepped forward and slipped his arm's round his father's waist, hugging him tightly in relief. Varian did not waste this surprising display of trust and encased his arms around his son. Above his head the mighty king Varian let out a few tears which splashed onto his son's head as he whispered his apologies and pleas for forgiveness.


End file.
